Swansea boss felt side were unlucky in away draw at Norwich

Swansea head coach Vitor Matos felt his side were unlucky to concede the penalty that denied them all three points in a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road.

“I can’t control the decisions but I didn’t think it was a penalty,” he said. “It was body-to-body contact with the players going in different directions and then Cam (Cameron Burgess) clears the ball.

“It’s disappointing but overall I am proud of the players for the desire and focus they showed out there in what was a very tough game.

“The team was well organised, pressing and getting behind the ball at the right times, and also passing it well.

“It was a great effort considering all the travelling we have had to do recently. It was also a great effort from the supporters and now we want to reward them by finishing with a good performance in our final game at home next weekend.”

Norwich head coach Philippe Clement heaped praise on his players despite seeing them held to a draw by Swansea which ended any hopes of reaching the Championship play-offs.

After dominating the first half, Norwich, who needed a win to stay in the hunt, were punished for a slow start to the second as they went behind from the penalty spot on 53 minutes.

Jose Cordoba was penalised for a tug on Zan Vipotnik and the Championship’s top scorer picked himself up to slot home his 23rd league goal of the campaign.

The Canaries got back on level terms on 83 minutes when Kenny McLean converted the game’s second penalty after goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux caught Mathias Kvistgaarden at the back post as both men went for a deep cross.

But there was to be no dream finale for a side who have produced a dramatic surge up the table under Clement, after being in the bottom three at the turn of the year.

Emotional

“In all my time in football management, it has been one of the most amazing turnarounds, ” he said. “The way the players and staff have reacted to the challenge in front of them gives me a lot of ambition for the future.

“I think we are in the top three in 2026 in terms of points – and we could easily have won more of our games.

“I also want to thank the supporters – when we went round the pitch at the end it was very emotional – I almost had tears in my eyes to feel the love of everybody and see how proud they were of the players.”

As for the game itself, he added: “We played well against a good opponent and should have been two or three ahead at half-time.

“Then we concede a penalty but the players never gave up, got the equaliser and could have won it at the end. We just needed to be more ruthless in the final third.”